To Raise a Soul 43.1

The drive to the Qiu residence carried a heavy/somber mood.

As usual, Yin Hexiang was driving with Qiu Feiqian seated in the back and the front passenger seat left unoccupied. Yin Le was absent since he was busy with his schoolwork that often only left him with a day and a half for his weekend. 

It was a Saturday morning and Yin Le was at his morning class, so they went to pick him up from his school.

Yu Zhen saw Qiu Feiqian’s tense expression and deeply furrowed eyebrows, looking as if she was preparing for a fight. Worried that she was bottling up her anger, Yu Zhen thought for a moment before pulling out a pouch the size of his palm and offering it to her. “Mom, you said that you liked the rose-scented perfume. I thought that, as perfume, its use is too limited and there isn’t much of it, so I made this powder. Try it. I’ve used it before. You can put it in your wardrobe. The scent is mild and it smells nicer than fabric softener.”

The delicate fragrance wafted over, softening her expression slightly. She took the pouch into her hand and brought it to her nose. Smiling, she said, “Your craftsmanship is good. The rose products I buy from the market and even the ones I make at my company aren’t as good as yours. This smell is very simple and elegant. It’s very special.”

Yu Zhen became shy under her praise. The perfume and powder have a special smell because the raw materials are special. It’s not because of my craftsmanship.

When he had gifted her the perfume, Yu Zhen had been worried that Qiu Feiqian would make inquiries as to where he had obtained the materials. He was stressed over how he would explain that away. In the end, Qiu Feiqian considerately hadn’t asked about that at all.

At his shy smile, Qiu Feiqian’s mood improved some more. She sniffed the pouch again and said, “Your aunt was also captured by your rose perfume. She was even praising you on the phone yesterday. Apparently there were lots of people asking where she had bought her perfume from, and they wanted her to get some for them – wait a moment, Xiao Zhen, are you looking to make and sell the perfume yourself?”

After saying half of what she had intended to, Qiu Feiqian’s eyes lit up. Her sombre expression disappeared and, without her noticing, it was replaced with her business face. She quickly said, “Mom has a cosmetics company. Lately, we’ve been developing a perfume and if you’d like to, Mom will let you start a high-end perfume series and let it be a limited edition sale. Mom can handle the formal stuff and you can earn yourself some pocket money.”

Yu Zhen was stunned. He waved a hand frantically and replied, “No, no, the product I made was crude. If you like it, I can make some more for you, but selling it -”

“Yes.”

Yin Yan took hold of Yu Zhen’s waving hand and placed it on his own knee. He looked at Qiu Feiqian and then added, “He can make it. What Yu Zhen made was a quality product. Apart from making money, it could help Mom’s brand enhance its reputation.”

Qiu Feiqian understood what Yin Yan meant, so she added, “That’s true. The perfume we’ve been making hasn’t been very successful. With Yu Zhen’s product, making a breakthrough in the market would be easier.”

Yu Zhen paused and looked at Yin Yan with hesitation.

There must be a reason for Yin Yan to say that. But selling something I made by hand…

Seeing his hesitation, Qiu Feiqian added, “Xiao Zhen, treat it as helping Mom? Try it? Hmm?”

Yin Yan added, “Don’t worry, your product will be very well received, and you can help Mom out too.”

At the same time, he secretly spoke to Yu Zhen. [The original trajectory of the Yin family has to be changed slowly. This is a good opportunity for doing that.]

The original destiny’s trajectory? Does that mean originally something would happen to Qiu Feiqian’s cosmetics company?

I thought the Yin family’s fates were changed when Yin Yan reincarnated into this body and he got along with the Wu family? Has it not been completely reversed?

Yu Zhen frowned slightly and then nodded. “Okay. Then I’ll give it a try. But, Mom, I don’t have a lot of raw materials at the moment. If we only sold a rose perfume, it wouldn’t count as a series. You might need to wait for a while.”

Wait until my plans from these last few days have been completed.

Qiu Feiqian agreed without hesitation. “No problem. Spend some more time preparing. It’s not an issue. We still have some more prep work to do for our upcoming series too. Let’s work independently. There’s no rush.”

Yu Zhen nodded. Distracted by the new topic, he forgot about the fact that Yin Yan was holding his hand. 

When they arrived at Yin Le’s school, his class hadn’t yet finished.

Qiu Feiqian called Yin Le’s homeroom teacher and, shortly afterward, Yin Le rushed out of the school, bag jostling roughly against his back. Before he reached the car, he yelled, “Mom! Why are all of you here? Is something wrong with the family?”

Qiu Feiqian didn’t say much. She rolled down her window and indicated that he should get in the front passenger seat, saying, “Get in first.” 

Yu Zhen looked at Yin Le. His gaze inadvertently shifted behind Yin Le to another youngster and a middle-aged man who were also leaving the school. His heartbeat quickened and he seemed to feel his blood vessels contracting and expanding.

A cultivator’s body is a natural sensor. Adding on the fact that he was a remnant soul, his senses were especially sharp.

He felt something was wrong. Just before Qiu Feiqian rolled up her window, he centered his focus on the youngster and the middle-aged man and managed to glimpse a faint red and black aura around the middle-aged man. Yin Le then got into the car and Yin Hexiang drove away, leaving Yu Zhen no chance to see anything else.  

[He is a man of great evil, and his body carries the sin of murder. ]

Surprised, Yu Zhen looked at Yin Yan. His discomfort weakened as they drove away from the school. He whispered, “You saw it too?” 

Yin Yan nodded. He then passed some spiritual energy to Yu Zhen.

Worried, Yin Le made a ruckus in the front seat. With the sudden gathering of the family, and their visiting him at school, he couldn’t help but be worried.

Qiu Feiqian calmed him down with a few sentences explaining the situation.

Much like Yin Hexiang had at home, Yin Le’s expression blackened like the burnt bottom of a pot. He looked at Yin Yan and gaped wordlessly before finally turning around quietly. He then hugged his schoolbag and proceeded to seethe with anger by himself.  

The atmosphere in the car sank again. Yin Hexiang drove faster and they arrived at the Qiu residence before lunchtime.

In a rare display of niceness, Qiu Feixiong waited for them at the gate. His expression was strange, unlike that of someone whose father had a serious illness. He looked very pleased with himself and his gaze occasionally drifted to Yin Yan. In short, he looked as if he was up to no good.

Yin Hexiang remained calm and collected. Seeing her brother’s expression, Qiu Feiqian immediately knew that she had been tricked. The old man was probably not in a bad condition. Anger brewed within her, but she kept silent, opting not to converse with her brother. Instead, she spoke straightforwardly and asked to see Qiu Xiehua.

Qiu Feixiong immediately agreed, but added, “Let the younger generation play amongst themselves. Having too many people crowding Dad would affect his health.” 

Qiu Feiqian frowned. With her patience running thin, she asked, “What’s actually wrong with Dad? If his health is not good, just send him straight to the hospital. You’re the one who asked me to bring Xiao Yan and Xiao Le along, but now you don’t want to let them see him? Does this sound right to you?”

Qiu Feixiong replied mildly, “I didn’t say that they won’t be allowed in. They’ll just have to wait a bit.” He did not appear angered at all. Instead, he kept on wearing the good-natured and older brother-like appearance.

With his continuing act, Qiu Feiqian was even more certain that something was up. Yin Yan took the initiative and said, “Mom, go ahead with Dad. We’ll rest in the living room.”

Since her son deigned to speak up, Qiu Feiqian didn’t argue further. Holding in her anger, she said a few words to the children, and then the group headed for the old man’s room.

After two housekeepers brought the young masters tea, they were left alone in the living room without a single person to look after them as the guests. 

“What kind of lousy way of treating guests is this? We didn’t even see Second Uncle. What are they doing?” Yin Le grumbled. It’s almost lunchtime and I’m a growing boy. When he turned around, he saw there was food on the table. Eager to fill his stomach, he reached out for some food.

“Don’t touch that.”

Yu Zhen pushed aside Yin Le’s hand. He sat tensely and glared at the dishes on the table as if they were his enemy.

Something’s fishy. These refreshments are giving me an ominous feeling. It’s like there’s something wicked inside. The air in this house also feels weird.

“What is it?”

Yu Zhen shook his head. He took a seed from his inner jacket pocket and funneled some merits and spiritual energy into it. Then he sneakily hid the seed in Yin Le’s hat as he pressed a hand to his shoulder. “This dimsum isn’t fresh. Don’t eat them. Be careful, or you’ll get diarrhea. ”

“It’s not fresh?”

Yin Le was pulled back by Yu Zhen. He stuck out his head and sniffed the air. Surprisingly, there was a faint scent of something rotting. He immediately gave up on all thoughts of eating the snacks. Leaning on the sofa, he huffed, “Uncle is being too much! He would give expired food to his guests?! He definitely did this on purpose!”

“Don’t drink the tea or juices. They probably aren’t fresh either.” Yu Zhen reached into his jacket. He pretended to fish something out of a jacket pocket but was in fact taking something out of the pagoda towers. He produced a pouch of biscuits. and placed it in Yin Le’s hand. “Eat this if you’re hungry. I made it and happened to have it with me.”

“Wow, this smells nice!” Yin Le’s attention was immediately diverted and he happily munched on the biscuits.

Yu Zhen had successfully resolved the issue with Yin Le, but he remained unsettled. He looked around the living room and became even more disheartened.

I’ve been here for a while. Since Xin Xiaoxiao is my ghost attendant, she should have come to see me when she felt my presence. But she hasn’t appeared and I can’t feel her presence. Something isn’t right.

[It’s an array.]

Yin Yan stood up and looked at him. “Stay here, I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Go, go.” Yin Le shooed him away with disinterest.

Guessing what he was going to do, Yu Zhen’s mental state relaxed a little. He replied, “Come back quickly. I’ll wait for you” 

Yin Yan had moved a step away, but he returned to his original position. He looked down at Yu Zhen with lidded eyes and tousled Yu Zhen’s hair before walking away.